US retail company Costco is establishing its first Global Capability Centre (GCC) in India, with plans to hire 1,000 employees at its Hyderabad facility. The centre will support the firm’s global operations in technology, finance, analytics, and research and development.
The development marks Costco’s formal entry into India’s GCC sector. The Hyderabad hub will collaborate with international teams on infrastructure engineering, machine learning, data science, and automation—skills relevant to current retail and marketing operations.
The GCC will also have implications for Costco’s marketing functions, enabling the company to build internal capabilities in data-driven commerce. The centre is expected to work on customer insights, campaign optimisation, and personalisation.
In the context of AI-led commerce, the company is focusing on developing in-house expertise to manage consumer data and improve returns on media spending.
Hyderabad has become a base for several multinational GCCs, including those of Walmart, McDonald’s, Heineken, and Vanguard. According to Nasscom, India’s GCC sector is forecast to grow from $64.6 billion in FY24 to over $100 billion by 2030, with demand for specialised technology talent and access to emerging markets being key drivers.
For India’s media and marketing sector, Costco’s entry indicates that GCC expansion is increasingly driven by capability requirements rather than cost considerations.
